Could one focused coaching conversation deliver measurable impact at work? A foundational meta-analysis of 17 organizational studies reported a positive, moderate overall effect on outcomes (effect size about 0.36), with especially strong gains in affective outcomes like confidence and wellbeing (about 0.51) and large improvements at the individual-results level (about 1.24). An updated meta-analysis confirmed these benefits and, crucially, found that more sessions or hours do not necessarily translate into better results. For HR leaders, this points to a simple strategic imperative: focus on the quality and structure of coaching conversations. The growth model of coaching—best operationalized through the GROW framework—provides that structure and, when executed well, unlocks authentic leadership, self-efficacy, and change-oriented behavior.
This article takes a clear stance: the growth model of coaching is most effective when it is embedded in day-to-day leadership through a structured GROW process, delivered by well-prepared internal coaches, and supported by organizational systems that reinforce accountability. You will find the evidence behind this claim and practical steps to implement it at scale.
Understanding the Growth Mindset in Coaching
A growth mindset in coaching assumes that people build capability through effort, feedback, and deliberate practice. In the workplace, you turn that into managers who help employees set meaningful goals, reflect on their current reality, try options, and commit to action. That is the growth model of coaching in practice.
The strongest evidence base supports the positive impact of coaching. The earlier meta-analysis by Jones and colleagues synthesized organizational research and found moderate benefits overall, with the largest gains for outcomes closer to the individual, such as confidence, wellbeing, and measurable performance changes. The updated review from Frontiers in 2023 confirmed the headline message and added nuance. Whether sessions are face to face or virtual makes little difference, and neither the number of sessions nor the total hours predicts effectiveness. This insight matters for your HR budget. It is not about buying more time. It is about engineering better conversations.
How does the growth model of coaching create results? A multi source pretest and posttest study of 70 leaders modeled the mechanism. The authors showed that increases in authentic leadership from coaching, meaning the alignment between one's values and actions, had the strongest overall effect on leadership effectiveness. Those authenticity gains also boosted change oriented leadership behaviors. That lift, in turn, further improved overall effectiveness. Confidence, or self efficacy, did not immediately raise perceived effectiveness within the study's timeframe. It did encourage more change oriented actions. For HR leaders, the takeaway is practical. Focus coaching on authentic leadership and on building the self belief required to lead change. The outcomes will follow.
The GROW model, which stands for Goal, Reality, Options or Obstacles, and Way Forward or Will, is the simplest way to translate the growth model of coaching into daily practice. The steps are intuitive:
- Goal: Define what success looks like now and in the longer term.
- Reality: Examine the current situation, including constraints and enablers.
- Options/Obstacles: Generate and stress test pathways forward.
- Way Forward/Will: Commit to specific actions, support, and timelines.
When you teach and practice the GROW steps, people learn to coach effectively. A six week quasi-experimental study of 26 student teachers who practiced the GROW technique showed statistically significant increases in coaching concepts and course achievement. Observers rated coaching skills as positive 65% of the time and related behaviors 53% of the time. Although this study sits outside a corporate context, it shows how a structured method speeds up skill development. That is exactly what you ask managers to do.
A few nuances matter. The first meta analysis noted that internal coaches were more effective than external coaches. They likely understand local context better and can reinforce accountability. The same review found that including multisource 360 feedback in coaching was associated with smaller positive effects. Flooded feedback, unless you facilitate it carefully, can overwhelm a coachee and blunt the growth model of coaching. Across studies, the message stays consistent. Choose quality over quantity and clarity over complexity.
Implementing a Growth Mindset Coaching Approach
Turn the growth model of coaching into a management habit rather than a program. Equip managers with a repeatable conversation flow, a questioning toolkit, and a simple tracking rhythm.
Build internal capability. Given that internal coaches outperform external ones in the earlier meta-analysis, invest in a train the trainer approach. Certify a cohort of internal coaches and manager coaches in GROW. Provide a set of open ended prompts for each step and a one page template for notes. Reinforce through quarterly refreshers and peer observation.
Drive session quality. The updated meta-analysis showed no link between hours and results, which means your emphasis should be on how well managers use the GROW structure. Train them to spend at least 60 to 70 percent of the session listening, not advising. Encourage a cadence of one focused coaching conversation per month per direct report, with micro check ins at the two week mark to revisit the Way Forward commitments. Virtual or in person both work, so choose format based on access and convenience.
Use GROW to build autonomy. Industry guides such as practical playbooks and manager toolkits converge on the same principle. Good coaching questions foster self determination. Example prompts:
- Goal: What would be different in 90 days if this goes well? How will we measure it?
- Reality: What is true today, including resources, constraints, and stakeholders?
- Options/Obstacles: What are three plausible approaches? What could get in the way?
- Way Forward: What will you do by next week, and what support do you need?
Engineer for authentic leadership. The leadership study of 70 organizational leaders showed that authentic leadership changes were the strongest driver of effectiveness. Translate that into practice by layering two activities into coaching. Use values to behavior mapping, where you identify one behavior per value that will be visible this week. Add stakeholder transparency, with one explicit “here is what I am trying to do differently” conversation every two weeks. Ask the coachee to report back on reactions in the next session. This links the growth model of coaching to the causal mechanism that elevates effectiveness.
Focus on change oriented leadership. Because change oriented behaviors were a significant pathway to higher effectiveness, include weekly “change reps” in the Way Forward. Plan one experiment, one influence attempt, or one cross functional collaboration. Track attempts, not only outcomes, to strengthen self efficacy through mastery experiences.
Avoid common pitfalls:
- More is not better. Both meta-analyses found no correlation between session count and outcomes. Resist the urge to extend engagements without a quality audit.
- Calibrate 360 usage. The earlier meta-analysis associated multisource feedback with smaller effects. If you use it, keep it focused around one goal, and have the coach facilitate sense making, not only deliver reports.
- Do not collapse into advice giving. The Way Forward should be authored by the coachee. If managers default to telling, they undermine autonomy and the growth model of coaching stalls.
- Do not skip follow up. The most common failure point is accountability. Lock in a specific date and evidence of progress for every action.
Measure what matters. Use quick pre and post surveys of leadership self efficacy and authentic leadership behaviors, echoing the methods from the leadership study. Add simple business metrics aligned to the Goal (e.g., cycle time, quality, revenue per rep). At the session level, track the percentage of GROW conversations that conclude with a specific, time bound Way Forward. Target at least 90 percent.
Advanced Strategies for Leveraging the Growth Mindset
Embed the growth model of coaching into culture. Treat GROW as a shared language across your talent system, including performance, development, and succession.
- Integrate into 1:1s: Standardize a 25 minute monthly GROW conversation and track completion.
- Bake into development plans: Require goals to be framed with the GROW stages, including named obstacles and explicit supports.
- Create a manager community of practice: Monthly 45 minute sessions to review anonymized GROW cases and sharpen questioning skills.
- Codify in performance: Reward managers for coaching quality indicators, such as employee reported autonomy, clarity of goals, and follow through, rather than sheer frequency.
Prioritize internal coaching capacity. The earlier meta-analysis showed stronger effects for internal coaches, so establish an internal faculty. Select for listening skills and organizational credibility. Train them to coach leaders specifically on authentic and change oriented behaviors, aligning with the mechanism demonstrated in the leadership study.
Apply the growth model of coaching to different niches:
- Leadership transitions: Center the Goal on authenticity in action for the new scope. Use Reality to surface legacy behaviors. Use Options to design two “first 90 days” experiments. Use Way Forward to lock in stakeholder transparency moments.
- Career development: Use Options to explore skill pathways and adjacent roles. Way Forward becomes a six week learning sprint with deliverables.
- Change initiatives: Make the Goal a defined change outcome. Reality maps resistance and allies. Options designs influence tactics. Way Forward commits to two influence attempts per week.
Use evidence informed expectations. In planning phases, set targets that mirror the research:
- Aim for moderate effect sizes on affective outcomes (confidence, wellbeing), where coaching is particularly strong.
- Expect measurable improvements within a three to four month window. The leadership study's average coaching duration was about four months, which is a practical benchmark.
- Treat coaching format as a tactical choice rather than a driver of effectiveness. The updated meta-analysis found no statistically significant difference between face to face and virtual.
Upgrade your measurement. To demonstrate ROI credibly, build a simple causal chain. Coaching leads to authentic leadership and self efficacy. That leads to change oriented behaviors. Those behaviors lift leadership effectiveness. Better leadership drives business results. Use pre and post measures with multiple raters, as the leadership study did, to reduce bias. Pair that with a basic progress tracker on GROW commitments. If you need an early signal, capture “time to first action” after a session. Organizations that shorten it reliably see momentum rise.
When scaling fast, keep the system light. Provide a one page GROW guide, a 10 question coaching skills checklist, and a dashboard with three lead indicators: percentage of employees with an active GROW plan, percentage of plans with clear obstacles identified, and percentage with peer or manager support named in the Way Forward. This preserves fidelity to the growth model of coaching without burdening teams.
Case Studies and Real-World Examples
A growth model of coaching becomes real when you can see the before and after. The following cases illustrate the pattern, with clear goals, honest reality checks, multiple options, and committed action.
Developing coaching skills in student teachers
The problem: Teacher preparation programs in Thailand needed to move beyond lecture driven methods toward student centered learning.
The solution: A six week teacher training study taught 26 student teachers to use the GROW process during peer teaching. Participants rotated as coach and coachee, practicing Goal setting, Reality assessment, Options brainstorming, and Way Forward commitments.
The impact: Understanding of coaching concepts and overall course achievement both rose significantly. Observed coaching skills were positive 65% of the time and related behaviors 53% of the time. The growth model of coaching helped novices internalize a repeatable approach to facilitating learning and action.
Improving managerial capabilities at a public agency
The problem: The Education Authority of Northern Ireland wanted managers capable of “inspiring, supporting, and challenging” young people within its remit.
The solution: A “Great People Manager Programme” embedded the GROW framework as a practical coaching tool, delivered through a consulting firm case study partnership. Managers learned to avoid the “counselling trap” and to coach for ownership.
The impact: Participants reported a mindset shift and found the GROW component particularly effective for navigating difficult situations. While qualitative, the feedback reflects the same focus on structured, non directive conversations that the research shows underpin success. The growth model of coaching provided a shared language and a way to operationalize support and accountability.
Launching a new coaching practice with clarity
The problem: An HR consultant in Singapore sought to pivot into career coaching but lacked a plan, confidence, and structure.
The solution: Through a coaching school case study, the coach used GROW to set a concrete three year goal, analyze the current market and skills reality, explore certification and business model options, and commit to a “3 year Career Coaching Map” as the Way Forward. The process surfaced and reframed a limiting belief about perfectionism.
The impact: The client left with clear priorities, timelines, and renewed motivation. The growth model of coaching transformed indecision into a sequenced plan, exactly the sort of clarity HR leaders should expect from well run GROW conversations.
Across these examples, you see the same pattern. Tight goal clarity, a grounded assessment of reality, divergent thinking to expand options, and explicit commitments with support. That is the growth model of coaching in action. It is easy to teach, easy to scale, and powerful when you hold it to a high standard.
The evidence is consistent and actionable. Coaching delivers moderate positive effects across organizational outcomes, with especially strong gains in confidence, wellbeing, and individual performance. What drives those results is not longer engagements, more sessions, or even the coaching format. It is the quality of the coaching interaction and its focus on the mechanisms that matter, such as authentic leadership and the self belief that fuels change oriented behavior. The growth model of coaching, anchored in the GROW framework, allows managers to run those high quality conversations every month. Build internal coaching capability, prioritize autonomy building questions over advice, use 360 data judiciously, and insist on specific Way Forward commitments with follow up. When you do, you transform coaching from a cost center into a leadership engine, and you will see it in faster action, stronger change leadership, and a culture that keeps getting better.